Prodigal God Series #6, Reign of Christ Sunday
If you watch television news, read a newspaper, listen to radio, or scan the internet, you’ll find signs of a world in chaos. While science and technology have brought great wealth to a few, many of have been left out of the prosperity of the 21st century.
Today we celebrate Reign of Christ Sunday. As followers of Christ we have not only that he came to the world as God’s incarnate son, that he died for us, and the he rose again on the third day, and lives forever, proclaiming the Gospel to the world.
The Gospel of Christ is the gospel of the Prodigal God, a God who is extravagantly generous to us, whether we deserve it or not. Like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, God offers us the Feast of the Father, a feast that all are invited to, regardless of nation, race or background.
As Matthew’s gospel tells us, when the son of man comes in glory, those who inherit the kingdom, the sheep… will be those who gave food to the hungry, welcome to the stranger, clothing to unclothed, care to the sick, and made the effort to visit those in prison.
In doing this “to the least of these” we do it to Jesus, the Christ.
But the goats, who are condemned to separation from God, are those who refused to feed, care for, welcome or visit “the least of these.”
This is tough stuff.
It means as Christians we are called to a faith that is far more than just following the law, doing what is right morally speaking, and professing our faith by attending worship.
It means we are called to mission and ministry, to follow the teaching of Christ
.
That’s where today’s celebration of the Reign of Christ links up with the Prodigal God series.
The purpose of looking in depth at this parable, and other related scripture passages is so we see see the link between our future as the church of Christ in this Diocese, and an outward focus on mission.
It’s one of the hardest things to come to grips with. Yet the teaching is there in scripture and it has been true throughout the history of the church.
The church is at its most faithful when it reaches out to the community. Historically Anglicans have played a major role in education, health, social welfare, and the life of the community.
However during the past half century that role has eroded as society has changed. As I’ve said before, it isn’t our fault, but the whole mission field has changed fundamentally. There are more churches than ever in Sarnia, and most of the traditional churches are shrinking while the more fundamentalist churches, with contemporary music and very little if any liturgy, are doing best with the minority of younger people who are active Christians.
That doesn’t mean Anglicans, or others who follow a more traditional pattern of liturgy, and a less literal approach to scripture, are going to disappear from the scene.
The reason we’ve followed this Diocesan wide study is to get us thinking beyond survival, and what our mission as Anglicans in southwestern Ontario is during the next decade.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the one who never ceases to seek our salvation, and draw us to himself.
Jesus does this not so that we escape the world, but so that we are sent out as his disciples, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to share the good news, to feed, clothe and befriend those in need.
That is the essence of the reign of Christ, living out Christ’s teaching, celebrating our fellowship by sharing his body and blood, reconciling ourselves to one another in all our weakness, and sin.
If we look at the elder brother in the parable, we can see that if he had responded to his younger brother’s return by rejoicing, rather than groaning, cheering rather than jeering, that he would be following Jesus, the true elder brother who calls us to join the feast of the father.
A personal faith or relationship with God isn’t enough. It is by joining in the Feast of the Father, joining in community, caring for others, that we find our purpose in life.
It is in community that we can carry out our mission as followers of Christ. If we look back at our 85 years of parish history, we began as a mission to the children of north Sarnia, who needed a Sunday school.
That mission turned into a parish church, which became a hub of the community right into the 50’s and 60’s.
How do we meet the challenge of doing mission in a very different context?
That is something we have to address as individuals, as parishes, as deaneries, as Dioceses and as a national Anglican Church, part of a worldwide communion.
It isn’t a time for blame—-looking for who is responsible, or what did we do wrong.
It is a time when we need to pray for the wisdom and courage to discern what we might do as followers of Christ to carry on this mission—preach the good news, to care for each other, to care for those in need, to seek peace and justice.
We aren’t hear just to survive, as the older brother did in the parable of the prodigal son. We are here to join in the feast of the Father.
The next few months will be a time of discernment for us as a parish. We will look at new models of ministry, including shared priestly ministry, or collaboration with other parishes in Sarnia.
No solutions will be imposed on the parish, however the financial realities of parish life in the 21st century, with diminished offerings from fewer people, and the cost of maintaining buildings and staff mean the decisions have to be made to live within our means.
This is not an easy process. I’ve been through it before both as a lay person, and as a priest.
So let us conclude with a prayer for the parish from the prayer book.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who dost
govern all things in heaven and earth:
Mercifully hear our prayers, and grant to this
Parish all things needful for its spiritual welfare
Strengthen and confirm the faithful;
protect and guide the children; visit and relieve
the sick; turn and soften the wicked; arouse the
careless; recover the fallen; restore the penitent.
Remove all hindrances to the advancement of
thy truth; and bring us all to be of one heart and
mind within the fold of thy holy Church, to the
honour and glory of thy blessed Name; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Monday, 14 November 2011
The True Elder Brother
Preached at St. John the Baptist, Walpole Island, Ontario, and St. Stephen's, Courtright, Ontario on November 13 as part of a pulpit exchange with Rev'd Paul Woolley
Like you, in Sarnia at Canon Davis, we’ve been following this alternative lectionary, which began with the Parable of the Prodigal Son and has continued to explore related themes.
The purpose of the Purpose of the Prodigal God study is to shift the focus of our Diocese and its parishes to a more outward looking mission and ministry.
Now you may wonder what that has to do with the parable of the prodigal son. The reason the parable was chosen is that neither the younger brother or the older brother has followed the right path, but both have been cared for, forgiven and treated with generosity and respect by the father in the parable---who we identify with God in this many layered parable.
In the parable the elder brother refuses to go into the feast to welcome his younger brother back. He refuses even though his father comes out to ask him to come in.
Many of us can probably sympathize with the older brother. We’ve done the best we can. We’ve followed the rules. We’ve honoured our family obligations.
Yet we see younger brothers welcomed back after making a mess of things, whether they deserve it or not—at least in our view.
That is exactly what our Gospel reading today is about. Jesus is not telling us that we have to hate our families. He’s teaching us that we have to first love God, our creator and redeemer, and then love for our fellow human beings will follow.
To be followers of Christ we have to do more than the elder brother did. We have to forgive others, as we have been forgiven, but we also have to go the extra mile.
For the elder brother that would have meant not being content with having the younger brother go and squander the family inheritance, but actually taking the initiative, like the shepherd with the lost sheep, and going out to find his brother and bring him home.
This outward focus is what built our churches. We set up Christian communities, built buildings and developed mission which included word, sacrament, education for people of all ages, and outreach—care for those less fortunate.
The problem is that in many congregations we are just trying to survive, keep the doors open, serve our own members, and our focus, as a result, has turned inward. We have lost that mission impulse which brought about our existence.
It isn’t too late to change. We still have many dedicated parishioners. We have the richness of our Anglican tradition, our worship, our music.
And above all we have our true elder brother, Jesus, who
gave his life for us.
This Remembrance day weekend we are
conscious of the sacrifices made for all of us by a whole generation
during the second world war, and of the sacrifices made during
wars before that, and since.
That willingness to sacrifice, at great cost, even the cost of
life itself, is what Jesus shows us by example.
We all won’t be called to sacrifice our lives. But we are
called to be followers of Christ as a cost---the cost being putting
others ahead of ourselves, doing what is right, rather than
worshipping the God of money.
Jesus teaches us that everything he has to give is ours—
blessing, foregiveness, love, community, peace, joy and ultimately
salvation.
To follow Jesus, however, means being willing to look
outward; to meet the needs of those who are marginalized as Jesus
did.
It is in serving others that we serve God. Our ongoing task
as followers of Christ is figuring out how to do that, as individuals
and as communities of faith.
There are no easy answers. Where we are is not an easy
place to be in. We need to remember that our Christian faith is not
a destination, but a journey. And we don’t know where it will take
us in the coming years.
But we can’t do it alone. We are part of the larger body of
Christ and we believe in a loving God, who cares for us so much
he sent his son to come among us in human form, and blesses us
with the enlivening breath of the Holy Spirit.
Like you, in Sarnia at Canon Davis, we’ve been following this alternative lectionary, which began with the Parable of the Prodigal Son and has continued to explore related themes.
The purpose of the Purpose of the Prodigal God study is to shift the focus of our Diocese and its parishes to a more outward looking mission and ministry.
Now you may wonder what that has to do with the parable of the prodigal son. The reason the parable was chosen is that neither the younger brother or the older brother has followed the right path, but both have been cared for, forgiven and treated with generosity and respect by the father in the parable---who we identify with God in this many layered parable.
In the parable the elder brother refuses to go into the feast to welcome his younger brother back. He refuses even though his father comes out to ask him to come in.
Many of us can probably sympathize with the older brother. We’ve done the best we can. We’ve followed the rules. We’ve honoured our family obligations.
Yet we see younger brothers welcomed back after making a mess of things, whether they deserve it or not—at least in our view.
That is exactly what our Gospel reading today is about. Jesus is not telling us that we have to hate our families. He’s teaching us that we have to first love God, our creator and redeemer, and then love for our fellow human beings will follow.
To be followers of Christ we have to do more than the elder brother did. We have to forgive others, as we have been forgiven, but we also have to go the extra mile.
For the elder brother that would have meant not being content with having the younger brother go and squander the family inheritance, but actually taking the initiative, like the shepherd with the lost sheep, and going out to find his brother and bring him home.
This outward focus is what built our churches. We set up Christian communities, built buildings and developed mission which included word, sacrament, education for people of all ages, and outreach—care for those less fortunate.
The problem is that in many congregations we are just trying to survive, keep the doors open, serve our own members, and our focus, as a result, has turned inward. We have lost that mission impulse which brought about our existence.
It isn’t too late to change. We still have many dedicated parishioners. We have the richness of our Anglican tradition, our worship, our music.
And above all we have our true elder brother, Jesus, who
gave his life for us.
This Remembrance day weekend we are
conscious of the sacrifices made for all of us by a whole generation
during the second world war, and of the sacrifices made during
wars before that, and since.
That willingness to sacrifice, at great cost, even the cost of
life itself, is what Jesus shows us by example.
We all won’t be called to sacrifice our lives. But we are
called to be followers of Christ as a cost---the cost being putting
others ahead of ourselves, doing what is right, rather than
worshipping the God of money.
Jesus teaches us that everything he has to give is ours—
blessing, foregiveness, love, community, peace, joy and ultimately
salvation.
To follow Jesus, however, means being willing to look
outward; to meet the needs of those who are marginalized as Jesus
did.
It is in serving others that we serve God. Our ongoing task
as followers of Christ is figuring out how to do that, as individuals
and as communities of faith.
There are no easy answers. Where we are is not an easy
place to be in. We need to remember that our Christian faith is not
a destination, but a journey. And we don’t know where it will take
us in the coming years.
But we can’t do it alone. We are part of the larger body of
Christ and we believe in a loving God, who cares for us so much
he sent his son to come among us in human form, and blesses us
with the enlivening breath of the Holy Spirit.
Monday, 7 November 2011
What about the elder brother?
Homily Remembrance Sunday Prodigal God Series #4
When I was first thinking about The Prodigal God series of sermons, all revolving around the parable of the Prodigal Son and related readings, I wondered how it would work with special Sundays, like last Sunday, All Saints, and this Sunday, Remembrance Sunday.
I needn’t have worried because the challenges raised by the parable are so universal, that they address many aspects of our lives as Christians.
Take our Remembrance Sunday this morning. As I talked to John Summerfield this week, he recalled an incident difficult for him to even speak about until only a few years ago.
A comrade, who he bunked with, and worked on bomber crew with got hit with shrapnel during a bombing run, and died in John’s arms as he tried to revive him.
John went on to many more successful bombing runs. However it is that loss of a comrade that haunts him, and brings tears to his eyes still.
War is unspeakably horrible, because of the loss of life, the loss of comrades.
War is above all, if it is a just war like World War 2, a sacrifice for one’s fellow countrymen, for freedom.
War is about sacrifice; the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others.
Sacrifice is the link with both today’s Gospel passage from Luke about the rich ruler and his encounter with Jesus about what is required of him for salvation, and the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Luke’s account is challenging for us, even today. The ruler asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks him if he has followed the Hebrew law, the Torah. He answers he has done that since he was a boy.
Then Jesus asks him to sell all that he owns and give it to the poor, then come and follow Jesus.
Needless to say the ruler was sad, since he was certainly not prepared to give up his possessions, as the disciples had when they left everything behind to follow Jesus.
This passage, if interpreted literally would certainly cause difficulties for all of us who are living well in an affluent society.
Jesus goes on to say it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
We have to remember Jesus was using hyperbole, or exaggeration to make his point. That method of teaching was certainly part of his Jewish heritage.
What he really wanted to underline is that our wealth can not be allowed to become God, replacing God our Father, our creator, as the God we worship.
As we look around our world today we see the fruits of making wealth a God. Many people have never had it so good, accumulating unimagined wealth, and living extravagantly while countless others are starving and homeless.
If we follow Christ we have to not only see this as wrong, but see the link between the two.
The greedy CEO’s and investment bankers who created the mess which led to the economic crisis of 2008 that still lingers today are worshipping the God of wealth. Anything goes, including profits made purely on speculation, not creating goods and services people use.
What we need is the same spirit of sacrifice that we saw in the two world wars. The spirit of sacrifice, although we paid a price in terms of loss of life, led to the peace and prosperity that followed World War 2.
What would a spirit of sacrifice look like in 2011. For a start, maybe all the CEOs could reduce their compensation packages to less than a million dollars. We could change the taxation system so the burden could fall on those who can afford to pay, rather than the stretched and shrinking middle class.
We could ask for sacrifice for the good of many. But that would run counter to the current prevailing attitude that says greed is good, and if one can accumulate extravagant wealth at the expense of other’s that is just survival of the fittest, free enterprise.
In Dicken’s Christmas Carol, Scrooge is asked to give to the poor and asks the unfortunate canvassers: “are there not prisons, are there not workhouses?” Perhaps what is needed is to “decrease the surplus population” by allowing the poor to starve.
In a sense Scrooge is just like the Ruler who confronts Jesus. He may have followed all the rules of society. But when asked to sacrifice for others, he has no heart for it. He wants to hoard his riches, and not share it with his employee, Bob Cratchett and his crippled son, Tiny Tim.
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the father generously receives the younger son back after the younger son his literally squandered his part of the family inheritance, which he had the audacity to ask for before his father’s death.
That younger son broke all the rules, disappointed his father, and wasted his opportunity.
We don’t aften spend too much time looking at the lder brother in the parable. He’s only there at the end, bitter over his brother’s return, and jealous that the father killed the fatted calf and held a party to celebrate.
The elder brother, like the ruler who asked Jesus about salvation, didn’t do anything wrong.
He followed all the rules. He worked hard for his father. But he hadn’t learned from his father to have a spirit of generosity, of love, of sacrifice, of putting relationship above wealth.
Instead he was focused on himself, and what he deserved for his hard work.
What did the elder brother show in his reaction to his brother’s return:
*deep anger over what he perceived was unfair treatment.
*a sense of persecution—he had slaved for his father all these years, but a fatted calf had never been slain for him.
*no love or care about his younger brother. No rejoicing that he had come to himself.
*a sense of entitlement. Since I have been faithful to my father all these years, don’t I deserve better than for him to celebrate my younger brother’s return. What about me?
*a lack of foregiveness, and a judgmental attitude.
As we look at the elder brother for the purposes of this series, we have to consider that there are aspects of the elder brother, and the younger brother in all of us, and we need to be conscious of this as we move forward in our lives as followers of Christ.
Both brothers fell short. But at least the younger brother recognized his spiritual failings.
Perhaps the danger of the older brother’s attitude is that it allows for a kind of moralistic spirituality which treats faith as primarily a matter of following the law, and doing what is expected.
However obedience to the law is only part of the path to salvation.
The other part is loving God, and loving our neighbour, and developing the spirit of sacrifice which can lead to peace, joy, love and community.
Being self-righteous, like the elder brother, leads to a spiritual malaise.
Instead we are called to humility, to forgiveness, to always looking for the grace of God,rather than seeking salvation through our own merit.
When I was first thinking about The Prodigal God series of sermons, all revolving around the parable of the Prodigal Son and related readings, I wondered how it would work with special Sundays, like last Sunday, All Saints, and this Sunday, Remembrance Sunday.
I needn’t have worried because the challenges raised by the parable are so universal, that they address many aspects of our lives as Christians.
Take our Remembrance Sunday this morning. As I talked to John Summerfield this week, he recalled an incident difficult for him to even speak about until only a few years ago.
A comrade, who he bunked with, and worked on bomber crew with got hit with shrapnel during a bombing run, and died in John’s arms as he tried to revive him.
John went on to many more successful bombing runs. However it is that loss of a comrade that haunts him, and brings tears to his eyes still.
War is unspeakably horrible, because of the loss of life, the loss of comrades.
War is above all, if it is a just war like World War 2, a sacrifice for one’s fellow countrymen, for freedom.
War is about sacrifice; the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others.
Sacrifice is the link with both today’s Gospel passage from Luke about the rich ruler and his encounter with Jesus about what is required of him for salvation, and the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Luke’s account is challenging for us, even today. The ruler asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks him if he has followed the Hebrew law, the Torah. He answers he has done that since he was a boy.
Then Jesus asks him to sell all that he owns and give it to the poor, then come and follow Jesus.
Needless to say the ruler was sad, since he was certainly not prepared to give up his possessions, as the disciples had when they left everything behind to follow Jesus.
This passage, if interpreted literally would certainly cause difficulties for all of us who are living well in an affluent society.
Jesus goes on to say it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
We have to remember Jesus was using hyperbole, or exaggeration to make his point. That method of teaching was certainly part of his Jewish heritage.
What he really wanted to underline is that our wealth can not be allowed to become God, replacing God our Father, our creator, as the God we worship.
As we look around our world today we see the fruits of making wealth a God. Many people have never had it so good, accumulating unimagined wealth, and living extravagantly while countless others are starving and homeless.
If we follow Christ we have to not only see this as wrong, but see the link between the two.
The greedy CEO’s and investment bankers who created the mess which led to the economic crisis of 2008 that still lingers today are worshipping the God of wealth. Anything goes, including profits made purely on speculation, not creating goods and services people use.
What we need is the same spirit of sacrifice that we saw in the two world wars. The spirit of sacrifice, although we paid a price in terms of loss of life, led to the peace and prosperity that followed World War 2.
What would a spirit of sacrifice look like in 2011. For a start, maybe all the CEOs could reduce their compensation packages to less than a million dollars. We could change the taxation system so the burden could fall on those who can afford to pay, rather than the stretched and shrinking middle class.
We could ask for sacrifice for the good of many. But that would run counter to the current prevailing attitude that says greed is good, and if one can accumulate extravagant wealth at the expense of other’s that is just survival of the fittest, free enterprise.
In Dicken’s Christmas Carol, Scrooge is asked to give to the poor and asks the unfortunate canvassers: “are there not prisons, are there not workhouses?” Perhaps what is needed is to “decrease the surplus population” by allowing the poor to starve.
In a sense Scrooge is just like the Ruler who confronts Jesus. He may have followed all the rules of society. But when asked to sacrifice for others, he has no heart for it. He wants to hoard his riches, and not share it with his employee, Bob Cratchett and his crippled son, Tiny Tim.
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the father generously receives the younger son back after the younger son his literally squandered his part of the family inheritance, which he had the audacity to ask for before his father’s death.
That younger son broke all the rules, disappointed his father, and wasted his opportunity.
We don’t aften spend too much time looking at the lder brother in the parable. He’s only there at the end, bitter over his brother’s return, and jealous that the father killed the fatted calf and held a party to celebrate.
The elder brother, like the ruler who asked Jesus about salvation, didn’t do anything wrong.
He followed all the rules. He worked hard for his father. But he hadn’t learned from his father to have a spirit of generosity, of love, of sacrifice, of putting relationship above wealth.
Instead he was focused on himself, and what he deserved for his hard work.
What did the elder brother show in his reaction to his brother’s return:
*deep anger over what he perceived was unfair treatment.
*a sense of persecution—he had slaved for his father all these years, but a fatted calf had never been slain for him.
*no love or care about his younger brother. No rejoicing that he had come to himself.
*a sense of entitlement. Since I have been faithful to my father all these years, don’t I deserve better than for him to celebrate my younger brother’s return. What about me?
*a lack of foregiveness, and a judgmental attitude.
As we look at the elder brother for the purposes of this series, we have to consider that there are aspects of the elder brother, and the younger brother in all of us, and we need to be conscious of this as we move forward in our lives as followers of Christ.
Both brothers fell short. But at least the younger brother recognized his spiritual failings.
Perhaps the danger of the older brother’s attitude is that it allows for a kind of moralistic spirituality which treats faith as primarily a matter of following the law, and doing what is expected.
However obedience to the law is only part of the path to salvation.
The other part is loving God, and loving our neighbour, and developing the spirit of sacrifice which can lead to peace, joy, love and community.
Being self-righteous, like the elder brother, leads to a spiritual malaise.
Instead we are called to humility, to forgiveness, to always looking for the grace of God,rather than seeking salvation through our own merit.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Of Saints and Discipleship
All Saints, Oct. 30 2011, Prodigal God Series Part 3,
Mark 10:35-45
What’s a saint? A dictionary definition would be a person who is officially recognized by the church through a process called canonization, as pre-eminent in holiness.
But there is a larger group of saints referred to in Paul’s letters. That group includes faithful Christians, followers of the way of Christ throughout the ages, and that is who we are called to remember today.
Even those officially recognized as saints by the church are flesh and blood human beings. They have special gifts from God, which have enabled them to perform remarkable service to their fellow human beings in God’s name.
But they are also prone to human failings, just like you and I. In 1982 I met Mother Teresa when she visited a small town in northern Alberta. I was one of a few journalists on the scene and we had a chance to ask a few questions and meet this Nobel prize winning nun who is now going through the process to become a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
I was impressed by her down to earth manner, her serenity, her smile.
Recently years after her death a translation of her writings found that for years while she was helping people, she was experiencing inner desolation, a feeling of separation from God. But she persevered.
In today’s Gospel reading two of Jesus disciples, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, ask Jesus to do whatever they ask of him. What they want is to sit at his right hand and at his left in the kingdom, in paradise.
Think back to the parable of the Prodigal Son—that’s what the younger son was asking of his father---to do the unthinkable, that is to sell the land that is his estate ahead of time, so he can give it to the younger son.
Both requests are completely unreasonable and selfish.
Jesus responds, as he often does with a question to James and John. Are you able to drink the cup I drink, and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?
By this he means being willing to be baptized with death on the cross. This passage follows one of Jesus predictions of his death in Mark’s gospel.
The two disciples don’t understand. They say they are able. Jesus responds they will be asked to sacrifice their lives, in his name, but not yet. And places at his left and right hand, are not his to give.
The request of James and John causes disunity among the twelve disciples. They are angry at the two for requesting special privileges.
But Jesus uses this opportunity to teach about the nature of discipleship. What he calls for is servant leadership, not the kind of authoritarian, tyranny they are accustomed to in first century Israel. “Whoever is great among you must first be your servant.”
This ties in to the lives of many of the saints who have been recognized by the church. Mother Teresa served the poor of Calcutta with her sisters. Saint Francis of Assisi rejected the wealth of his family, and began the Franciscan order which has served those in need for centuries.
Jesus himself defied the conventional expectations of the “Son of Man,” the term for Messiah, not only because he came to serve others, but because he came to give his life as a ransom for many.
Let’s go back to the two disciples James and John. Like the two sons in the Prodigal Son, they have lost their way. They don’t really understand what God’s grace means. They don’t understand what loving God means.
James and John want to be at Jesus’ side in glory, but they don’t understand either the cost of that request, or what it would mean for them, or for the other disciples.
In Mark’s gospel in particular, the disciples are often depicted as slow to catch on to Jesus’ teaching, and this is just one of many examples.
It must have been difficult for these ordinary, uneducated men to grasp the teaching of a leader who literally turned the teaching of the world, and even the Hebrew faith upside down.
Yet in the three years the disciples were with Jesus, they were given the strength to go through hardship and persecution after his death, and lay the foundations for the building of the Church.
And after three centuries of the early church as an underground movement, came the radical transformation which saw Roman temples transformed into Christian Churches, such as the Pantheon in Rome.
Those disciples learned servant leadership. The saints through the ages learned servant leadership.
And servant leadership is the key to renewal of the church today. We need to find ways to recapture that spirit of serving others. Our parish starting with the goal of offering a Sunday school mission to the children of north Sarnia.
So we began as a mission, as an outreach. In those early days, the church was a centre of community life. There were plays, a football team which won the city championship, and records showed as many as 600 people attended services many Sundays.
Of course that was a different time. Sarnia was different. Life was different. In our current life as a parish we need to discern our mission, how we can serve God, and serve our community. Let us pray.
GOD the Holy Ghost, Sanctifier of the
faithful: Sanctify this parish by thine abiding
presence. Bless those who minister in holy things.
Enlighten the minds of thy people more and more
with the light of the everlasting Gospel. Bring
erring souls to the knowledge of God our Saviour;
and those who are walking in the way of life,
keep stedfast unto the end. Give patience to the
sick and afflicted, and renew them in body
and soul. Guard from forgetfulness of thee those
who are strong and prosperous. Increase in us
thy manifold gifts of grace, and make us all to be
fruitful in good works; O blessed Spirit, whom
with the Father and the Son together we worship
and glorify, one God, world without end. Amen
Mark 10:35-45
What’s a saint? A dictionary definition would be a person who is officially recognized by the church through a process called canonization, as pre-eminent in holiness.
But there is a larger group of saints referred to in Paul’s letters. That group includes faithful Christians, followers of the way of Christ throughout the ages, and that is who we are called to remember today.
Even those officially recognized as saints by the church are flesh and blood human beings. They have special gifts from God, which have enabled them to perform remarkable service to their fellow human beings in God’s name.
But they are also prone to human failings, just like you and I. In 1982 I met Mother Teresa when she visited a small town in northern Alberta. I was one of a few journalists on the scene and we had a chance to ask a few questions and meet this Nobel prize winning nun who is now going through the process to become a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
I was impressed by her down to earth manner, her serenity, her smile.
Recently years after her death a translation of her writings found that for years while she was helping people, she was experiencing inner desolation, a feeling of separation from God. But she persevered.
In today’s Gospel reading two of Jesus disciples, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, ask Jesus to do whatever they ask of him. What they want is to sit at his right hand and at his left in the kingdom, in paradise.
Think back to the parable of the Prodigal Son—that’s what the younger son was asking of his father---to do the unthinkable, that is to sell the land that is his estate ahead of time, so he can give it to the younger son.
Both requests are completely unreasonable and selfish.
Jesus responds, as he often does with a question to James and John. Are you able to drink the cup I drink, and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?
By this he means being willing to be baptized with death on the cross. This passage follows one of Jesus predictions of his death in Mark’s gospel.
The two disciples don’t understand. They say they are able. Jesus responds they will be asked to sacrifice their lives, in his name, but not yet. And places at his left and right hand, are not his to give.
The request of James and John causes disunity among the twelve disciples. They are angry at the two for requesting special privileges.
But Jesus uses this opportunity to teach about the nature of discipleship. What he calls for is servant leadership, not the kind of authoritarian, tyranny they are accustomed to in first century Israel. “Whoever is great among you must first be your servant.”
This ties in to the lives of many of the saints who have been recognized by the church. Mother Teresa served the poor of Calcutta with her sisters. Saint Francis of Assisi rejected the wealth of his family, and began the Franciscan order which has served those in need for centuries.
Jesus himself defied the conventional expectations of the “Son of Man,” the term for Messiah, not only because he came to serve others, but because he came to give his life as a ransom for many.
Let’s go back to the two disciples James and John. Like the two sons in the Prodigal Son, they have lost their way. They don’t really understand what God’s grace means. They don’t understand what loving God means.
James and John want to be at Jesus’ side in glory, but they don’t understand either the cost of that request, or what it would mean for them, or for the other disciples.
In Mark’s gospel in particular, the disciples are often depicted as slow to catch on to Jesus’ teaching, and this is just one of many examples.
It must have been difficult for these ordinary, uneducated men to grasp the teaching of a leader who literally turned the teaching of the world, and even the Hebrew faith upside down.
Yet in the three years the disciples were with Jesus, they were given the strength to go through hardship and persecution after his death, and lay the foundations for the building of the Church.
And after three centuries of the early church as an underground movement, came the radical transformation which saw Roman temples transformed into Christian Churches, such as the Pantheon in Rome.
Those disciples learned servant leadership. The saints through the ages learned servant leadership.
And servant leadership is the key to renewal of the church today. We need to find ways to recapture that spirit of serving others. Our parish starting with the goal of offering a Sunday school mission to the children of north Sarnia.
So we began as a mission, as an outreach. In those early days, the church was a centre of community life. There were plays, a football team which won the city championship, and records showed as many as 600 people attended services many Sundays.
Of course that was a different time. Sarnia was different. Life was different. In our current life as a parish we need to discern our mission, how we can serve God, and serve our community. Let us pray.
GOD the Holy Ghost, Sanctifier of the
faithful: Sanctify this parish by thine abiding
presence. Bless those who minister in holy things.
Enlighten the minds of thy people more and more
with the light of the everlasting Gospel. Bring
erring souls to the knowledge of God our Saviour;
and those who are walking in the way of life,
keep stedfast unto the end. Give patience to the
sick and afflicted, and renew them in body
and soul. Guard from forgetfulness of thee those
who are strong and prosperous. Increase in us
thy manifold gifts of grace, and make us all to be
fruitful in good works; O blessed Spirit, whom
with the Father and the Son together we worship
and glorify, one God, world without end. Amen
Thursday, 27 October 2011
The Scandal of the Teaching of Jesus
Homily Sunday October 23 Prodigal God Alternative Lectionary part 2
One of the challenging threads of the Gospels is echoed in today’s reading from Luke. Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, seems to attract the wrong kind of people.
Instead of devout religious folks, observant Jews, Pharisees, and leaders in the society, his followers, as Luke puts it, are “tax collectors” and “sinners.” These weren’t respectable people in a society built on honour and shame.
Jesus appealed to moral outcasts, and that very fact scandalized the Pharisees.
And perhaps even more difficult for the good Jewish people Jesus was scandalizing, was that he told parables like the two short ones offered today, which are both situated before the parable of the Prodigal Son.
First we have the shepherd who will not leave the wilderness with his 99 sheep until the one lost sheep is found. Then he will leave and have a celebration. So Jesus says there will be more rejoicing over one repentant sinner, than over 99 who have no need of repentance.
Then this is reinforced by the story of the woman who won’t cease the search for her lost drachma, then rejoices when it is found, leaving Jesus to conclude there is “more rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.”
This teaching of God’s grace is hard for us to understand.
The Pharisees and other religious leaders complained Jesus not only attracted tax collectors and sinners, he ate with them. Table fellowship was highly valued in the first century culture, and Jesus was showing acceptance and respect for those who were rejected and outcast.
Now you may be wondering what all this has to do with our “Prodigal God” theme which began last week with Bishop Terry preaching on the parable of the Prodigal Son.
What Jesus is trying to do is challenge the assumptions of the religious leaders, and all his listeners about God’s grace, sin, and salvation.
In both short parables, the lost sheep, and the lost coin, are both incapable of being found, except through God’s grace. They represent people who are spiritually lost, like the prodigal son. The sheep is lost through helplessness, the coin through thoughtlessness, and the son through wilfulness.
Sin is difficult for us to deal with. We all sin to varying degrees, part of our human nature. But in Jesus we find forgiveness through repentance and faith.
Salvation also enters into our parables, because if we think we have found God, and are sure in our faith, then one of the pitfalls we face is that we are tempted to look down on others who haven’t found God.
Jesus teaches that salvation doesn’t come to those who search hardest for God, but instead through God’s grace, not through our own merit.
That is a difficult concept for us. The joy is in finding those who are lost, those who are marginalized, those who are excluded.
Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple said the church is the only institution that exists for the benefit of those who are not members.
In the parables the Pharisees don’t see themselves as lost sinners saved by God’s grace. Indeed they feel superior to sinners. But Jesus teaches heaven rejoices when sinners repent.
Now to most people today Christianity represents both religion and moralism. But in the early church, and in Jesus teaching that was certainly not the case.
After all in the early church in the first three centuries there were almost no church buildings, no full-time clergy, no sacrifices, no Temples or Cathedrals.
Instead early Christianity was “The Way,” a way of sharing table fellowship and the sacraments in the homes of believers or the Catacombs of Rome; A Way of following Jesus who was himself the ultimate sacrifice.
Indeed religious people were offended by Jesus. It was outsiders, the underclass who formed the backbone of the early church. Jesus attracted the irreligious, and offended the believers of Hebrew scripture—the only Bible in his day.
Today the problem particularly in the west is that churches are not appealing to sinners and outcasts, or to younger brothers described in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
We are challenged as we undertake this Diocesan study to consider that while we mean well, we are too often like the older brother---we have worked hard, we have kept the faith, we have supported the church, and we like things the way they are.
Don’t we have enough on our plate without looking for new models of mission and ministry?
There are no easy answers. But all over North America and Europe many parishes and churches of all denominations are facing the same issues. It’s ironic that the areas where the church is fastest growing are those where the western churches did mission in the 20th century, in Latin America, Africa and Asia. We have a lot of financial resources, but lack in membership. They have few resources, but are growing quickly.
Let us close with a prayer from a Celtic resource Book.
“Grant us a vision, Lord,
To see what we can achieve
To reach out beyond ourselves
To share our lives with others
To stretch our capabilities
To increase our sense of purpose
To be aware of where we can help
To be sensitive to your presence
To give heed to your constant call,
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Amen”
One of the challenging threads of the Gospels is echoed in today’s reading from Luke. Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, seems to attract the wrong kind of people.
Instead of devout religious folks, observant Jews, Pharisees, and leaders in the society, his followers, as Luke puts it, are “tax collectors” and “sinners.” These weren’t respectable people in a society built on honour and shame.
Jesus appealed to moral outcasts, and that very fact scandalized the Pharisees.
And perhaps even more difficult for the good Jewish people Jesus was scandalizing, was that he told parables like the two short ones offered today, which are both situated before the parable of the Prodigal Son.
First we have the shepherd who will not leave the wilderness with his 99 sheep until the one lost sheep is found. Then he will leave and have a celebration. So Jesus says there will be more rejoicing over one repentant sinner, than over 99 who have no need of repentance.
Then this is reinforced by the story of the woman who won’t cease the search for her lost drachma, then rejoices when it is found, leaving Jesus to conclude there is “more rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.”
This teaching of God’s grace is hard for us to understand.
The Pharisees and other religious leaders complained Jesus not only attracted tax collectors and sinners, he ate with them. Table fellowship was highly valued in the first century culture, and Jesus was showing acceptance and respect for those who were rejected and outcast.
Now you may be wondering what all this has to do with our “Prodigal God” theme which began last week with Bishop Terry preaching on the parable of the Prodigal Son.
What Jesus is trying to do is challenge the assumptions of the religious leaders, and all his listeners about God’s grace, sin, and salvation.
In both short parables, the lost sheep, and the lost coin, are both incapable of being found, except through God’s grace. They represent people who are spiritually lost, like the prodigal son. The sheep is lost through helplessness, the coin through thoughtlessness, and the son through wilfulness.
Sin is difficult for us to deal with. We all sin to varying degrees, part of our human nature. But in Jesus we find forgiveness through repentance and faith.
Salvation also enters into our parables, because if we think we have found God, and are sure in our faith, then one of the pitfalls we face is that we are tempted to look down on others who haven’t found God.
Jesus teaches that salvation doesn’t come to those who search hardest for God, but instead through God’s grace, not through our own merit.
That is a difficult concept for us. The joy is in finding those who are lost, those who are marginalized, those who are excluded.
Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple said the church is the only institution that exists for the benefit of those who are not members.
In the parables the Pharisees don’t see themselves as lost sinners saved by God’s grace. Indeed they feel superior to sinners. But Jesus teaches heaven rejoices when sinners repent.
Now to most people today Christianity represents both religion and moralism. But in the early church, and in Jesus teaching that was certainly not the case.
After all in the early church in the first three centuries there were almost no church buildings, no full-time clergy, no sacrifices, no Temples or Cathedrals.
Instead early Christianity was “The Way,” a way of sharing table fellowship and the sacraments in the homes of believers or the Catacombs of Rome; A Way of following Jesus who was himself the ultimate sacrifice.
Indeed religious people were offended by Jesus. It was outsiders, the underclass who formed the backbone of the early church. Jesus attracted the irreligious, and offended the believers of Hebrew scripture—the only Bible in his day.
Today the problem particularly in the west is that churches are not appealing to sinners and outcasts, or to younger brothers described in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
We are challenged as we undertake this Diocesan study to consider that while we mean well, we are too often like the older brother---we have worked hard, we have kept the faith, we have supported the church, and we like things the way they are.
Don’t we have enough on our plate without looking for new models of mission and ministry?
There are no easy answers. But all over North America and Europe many parishes and churches of all denominations are facing the same issues. It’s ironic that the areas where the church is fastest growing are those where the western churches did mission in the 20th century, in Latin America, Africa and Asia. We have a lot of financial resources, but lack in membership. They have few resources, but are growing quickly.
Let us close with a prayer from a Celtic resource Book.
“Grant us a vision, Lord,
To see what we can achieve
To reach out beyond ourselves
To share our lives with others
To stretch our capabilities
To increase our sense of purpose
To be aware of where we can help
To be sensitive to your presence
To give heed to your constant call,
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Amen”
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Giving thanks and thinking about truth and justice
Homily Oct 9, Pentecost 17, Yr. A
This Thanksgiving weekend as we gather with our families, we realize that we have a lot to be thankful for. So many things our pioneer ancestors never dreamed of are within reach of most Canadians.
Materially, we are blessed, but the challenge remains to live out our calling as followers of Christ, amidst an increasingly secular, and non-Christian society.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one place to start if you are looking for teaching on the Christian life. The passage we heard this morning is surely one of the most inspirational in Paul’s letters.
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice,” Paul writes.
So as we live out our faith we are to do so, not in attitude of grumbling or reluctance, but in joy and enthusiasm
.
There is a great need to look on the positive side of life, to see possibilities not obstacles. To see opportunities, not lost causes.
This applies in our lives in the communities we live in, where we work and in the church.
You’ll notice Paul names two of his co-workers Eudoia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. That means these two women who have struggled beside Paul, must have either disagreed with other, or perhaps even with Paul. But Paul is urging them to work out their differences---literally in the Greek exercising their minds.
So what Paul is urging is not conformity but learning to solve problems while being faithful to God.
This is a help in our own life together as church. We can’t possibily agree on everything. But as followers of Christ we can learn to work things out and move ahead for the benefit of the whole body Christ, the whole community.
Paul tells us that the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will help keep our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus.
So our faith can help bring about that peace and unity Jesus calls us to, provided we trust in God.
The next promise is one I’ve personally found immense comfort in. Paul says whatever is true, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Paul is inviting us to look at the world in a whole different way, a positive life affirming way.
The trouble is if we complain, if we get angry, if we get caught up in blaming others, or always criticizing, or never being satisfied, then it poisons our whole approach to life.
Spiritually, Paul’s advice, offers us a way forward. While acknowledging the evil of the world, the Philippians are being urged to focus on the highest aspirations which humanity has: the search for truth, beauty, justice, excellence, and peace.
In that search we move forward with thanksgiving, rejoicing in the gifts that God has given us, in the things that give meaning to our lives amidst a hurting world.
Paul concludes by urging the Phillippians to keep on doing what they have been doing—to persist in what they have learned as followers of Christ.
God will be with them, and give them peace, as God offers us peace.
The message Paul had for the Philippian Christians is timeless. Indeed it seems even more needed today, as the world struggles with such huge and seemingly insoluble problems.
Instead of being overwhelmed with the difficulty of facing global economic difficulties we can’t do anything about, we need to be thankful for the gifts we have been given, and think about whatever is true, just, pleasing, commendable, praiseworthy.
From Paul, I’d to talk briefly about the Prodigal God, a Diocesan wide study program which begins next week.
We are lucky to have Bishop Dance, who is one of the finest preachers I’ve ever heard, launch a special six week set of readings starting with one of the most popular parables in the Bible, the Prodigal Son.
The study is based on a book called the Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller. As well as the six week lectionary and sermons based on it, there will be a weekly study six weeks on the Prodigal God starting Thursday Nov 3 at 10am in the Canterbury Room. Copies are for sale after church for $9.00.
There will also be a one day condensed study for those who can’t attend a weekly study Saturday Nov. 12 from 9:30 am to 2pm including lunch.
You may ask why a Diocesan wide study. The idea came from the Diocesan strategic planning process, which hopes there will be an opportunity to start looking outward as we consider the mission and ministry of the church.
Its meant to start a conversation, and I hope some of you will be able to join in.
The Prodigal God reference is to the fact that the father in the parable, who is so generous with both his sons, is extravagant in his generosity, as God is to us.
How do we respond to God’s generosity. How do we reach out to the community? How do we regain our outward focus?
These are all questions we will look at through the lens of the parable of the Prodigal Son.
This Thanksgiving weekend as we gather with our families, we realize that we have a lot to be thankful for. So many things our pioneer ancestors never dreamed of are within reach of most Canadians.
Materially, we are blessed, but the challenge remains to live out our calling as followers of Christ, amidst an increasingly secular, and non-Christian society.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one place to start if you are looking for teaching on the Christian life. The passage we heard this morning is surely one of the most inspirational in Paul’s letters.
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice,” Paul writes.
So as we live out our faith we are to do so, not in attitude of grumbling or reluctance, but in joy and enthusiasm
.
There is a great need to look on the positive side of life, to see possibilities not obstacles. To see opportunities, not lost causes.
This applies in our lives in the communities we live in, where we work and in the church.
You’ll notice Paul names two of his co-workers Eudoia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. That means these two women who have struggled beside Paul, must have either disagreed with other, or perhaps even with Paul. But Paul is urging them to work out their differences---literally in the Greek exercising their minds.
So what Paul is urging is not conformity but learning to solve problems while being faithful to God.
This is a help in our own life together as church. We can’t possibily agree on everything. But as followers of Christ we can learn to work things out and move ahead for the benefit of the whole body Christ, the whole community.
Paul tells us that the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will help keep our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus.
So our faith can help bring about that peace and unity Jesus calls us to, provided we trust in God.
The next promise is one I’ve personally found immense comfort in. Paul says whatever is true, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Paul is inviting us to look at the world in a whole different way, a positive life affirming way.
The trouble is if we complain, if we get angry, if we get caught up in blaming others, or always criticizing, or never being satisfied, then it poisons our whole approach to life.
Spiritually, Paul’s advice, offers us a way forward. While acknowledging the evil of the world, the Philippians are being urged to focus on the highest aspirations which humanity has: the search for truth, beauty, justice, excellence, and peace.
In that search we move forward with thanksgiving, rejoicing in the gifts that God has given us, in the things that give meaning to our lives amidst a hurting world.
Paul concludes by urging the Phillippians to keep on doing what they have been doing—to persist in what they have learned as followers of Christ.
God will be with them, and give them peace, as God offers us peace.
The message Paul had for the Philippian Christians is timeless. Indeed it seems even more needed today, as the world struggles with such huge and seemingly insoluble problems.
Instead of being overwhelmed with the difficulty of facing global economic difficulties we can’t do anything about, we need to be thankful for the gifts we have been given, and think about whatever is true, just, pleasing, commendable, praiseworthy.
From Paul, I’d to talk briefly about the Prodigal God, a Diocesan wide study program which begins next week.
We are lucky to have Bishop Dance, who is one of the finest preachers I’ve ever heard, launch a special six week set of readings starting with one of the most popular parables in the Bible, the Prodigal Son.
The study is based on a book called the Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller. As well as the six week lectionary and sermons based on it, there will be a weekly study six weeks on the Prodigal God starting Thursday Nov 3 at 10am in the Canterbury Room. Copies are for sale after church for $9.00.
There will also be a one day condensed study for those who can’t attend a weekly study Saturday Nov. 12 from 9:30 am to 2pm including lunch.
You may ask why a Diocesan wide study. The idea came from the Diocesan strategic planning process, which hopes there will be an opportunity to start looking outward as we consider the mission and ministry of the church.
Its meant to start a conversation, and I hope some of you will be able to join in.
The Prodigal God reference is to the fact that the father in the parable, who is so generous with both his sons, is extravagant in his generosity, as God is to us.
How do we respond to God’s generosity. How do we reach out to the community? How do we regain our outward focus?
These are all questions we will look at through the lens of the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
A Love Affair with Evensong
Evensong Reflection
Having preached this morning on the ten commandments from Exodus, I think this wonderful service of evensong deserves more of a reflection and less teaching and sermonizing.
My thoughts seemed to coalesce around this service of Evensong, and what it has meant to me and countless more Anglicans over almost five centuries since Thomas Cranmer put together the Book of Common Prayer.
I think it is safe to say evensong has resisted any attempt at rewriting as part of the modern liturgical movement. Unlike the communion and morning prayer services, where it is offered, it continues to offer the traditional language of the Book of Common Prayer, with its power, its poetry and its majesty.
I can’t claim to have much acquaintance with evensong as a youth, although I heard about it from my Dad who always went to church twice on Sunday—for morning mass and then evensong. My grandmother sang in the choir at St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, Toronto, with the great Healey Willan.
When I was in the West Indies for the summer as a youth exchange group member in something called the Anglican Overseas work tour I had my first acquaintance with evensong, as it was a regular part of our Sunday worship on the island of Nevis.
Then at Trinity College,Toronto, when I did my undergraduate work, and at parishes in Calgary and Edmonton, I was an occasional attender.
But what really made me appreciate the beauty and power of this service was the chance to hear choirs like this one sing Evensong almost every night in a different cathedral on a trip to England.
Sadly Evensong is no longer a part of regular worship in many churches. Despite its liturgical strength, and the beauty of the music written for the service by countless composers, and the wonderful evening hymns, evensong has been a casualty of modernity in the church—save for choirs like St. Paul’s which keep it alive on occasions like this.
My love affair with evensong was capped while I was in seminary by the opportunity to sing with a talented group of students less than half my age in the Trinity College Chapel Choir. So every Wednesday in term I was able to sing arrangements of the Nunc Dimmitis, Magnificat, and Preces, along with a new anthem. We rehearsed twice a week. So it was demanding.
As an act of praise and worship Evensong can be sublime at its best. We offer our voices, our prayers to God to give thanks for all our blessings.
Let us give thanks for this treasure of our Anglican worship life, and especially to those like the choir of St. Paul’s which help to keep the flame of Evensong alive.
Having preached this morning on the ten commandments from Exodus, I think this wonderful service of evensong deserves more of a reflection and less teaching and sermonizing.
My thoughts seemed to coalesce around this service of Evensong, and what it has meant to me and countless more Anglicans over almost five centuries since Thomas Cranmer put together the Book of Common Prayer.
I think it is safe to say evensong has resisted any attempt at rewriting as part of the modern liturgical movement. Unlike the communion and morning prayer services, where it is offered, it continues to offer the traditional language of the Book of Common Prayer, with its power, its poetry and its majesty.
I can’t claim to have much acquaintance with evensong as a youth, although I heard about it from my Dad who always went to church twice on Sunday—for morning mass and then evensong. My grandmother sang in the choir at St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, Toronto, with the great Healey Willan.
When I was in the West Indies for the summer as a youth exchange group member in something called the Anglican Overseas work tour I had my first acquaintance with evensong, as it was a regular part of our Sunday worship on the island of Nevis.
Then at Trinity College,Toronto, when I did my undergraduate work, and at parishes in Calgary and Edmonton, I was an occasional attender.
But what really made me appreciate the beauty and power of this service was the chance to hear choirs like this one sing Evensong almost every night in a different cathedral on a trip to England.
Sadly Evensong is no longer a part of regular worship in many churches. Despite its liturgical strength, and the beauty of the music written for the service by countless composers, and the wonderful evening hymns, evensong has been a casualty of modernity in the church—save for choirs like St. Paul’s which keep it alive on occasions like this.
My love affair with evensong was capped while I was in seminary by the opportunity to sing with a talented group of students less than half my age in the Trinity College Chapel Choir. So every Wednesday in term I was able to sing arrangements of the Nunc Dimmitis, Magnificat, and Preces, along with a new anthem. We rehearsed twice a week. So it was demanding.
As an act of praise and worship Evensong can be sublime at its best. We offer our voices, our prayers to God to give thanks for all our blessings.
Let us give thanks for this treasure of our Anglican worship life, and especially to those like the choir of St. Paul’s which help to keep the flame of Evensong alive.
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